Creative Dating Ideas (& Mishaps) From a Romance Author

[Note from Frolic: We’re so excited to have author Tawna Fenske guest posting on the site today talking all about creative dating and mishaps. Take it away Tawna!]

I don’t want to brag or anything, but my last date night was off the chain.

My husband massaged the lemony kale salad but forgot he had a cut on his finger. As he sprinted, yelping, to the sink, he tripped over the dog and upended a bottle of red wine.

Over the course of the meal, our 18-year-old regaled us with a story about farts. The 14-year-old lit candles on the table, creating both a romantic setting and a fire hazard when the cat jumped up to steal a piece of salmon.

Don’t worry, the cat’s fine. And I swear we do have kid-free, pet-free date nights. Sometimes, they even resemble the kind of normal, romantic interludes you read about in novels.

But if you’re convinced romance authors live in a state of perpetual romantic bliss, I’m gonna burst your bubble real hard. Keeping the romance alive is a challenge, and it’s not always glamorous.

A couple years ago, we planned a romantic riverside picnic date. Let’s not dwell on the details, but somehow, my bra ended up at the bottom of the Deschutes River. It was a damp and uncomfortable hike back to the car.

Another time, we had a date at a restaurant with a steep ladder required to reach our table on the second floor. Because I am a graceful lady, I managed to fall directly on my husband while descending. I should mention I was wearing a skirt.

Occasionally, there’s crossover between date nights and author life. While researching a scene for a rom-com in which the hero spanks the heroine with a spatula, I requested my husband’s help to determine the proper positioning against the kitchen counter. It might have gone better if our dinner guests hadn’t arrived ten minutes early for our planned double date.

Oh, and ask me how I know the dexterity required to scrub flour off your backside. (Better yet, don’t ask — just watch the video here).

So yeah, there’s been certain amount of… creativity involved in my dating life. Blame it on being married a while or blame my general awkwardness. Either way, creative dating has become my specialty.

That’s one reason I dearly loved writing my newest novel, The Two-Date Rule. It’s a romantic comedy about a woman named Willa whose lousy childhood leads to her hard-and-fast rule to never date a guy more than twice. That’s just fine with smokejumper Grady, whose career doesn’t exactly lend itself to long-term relationships. But as Willa and Grady begin falling for each other, they’re forced to find creative ways to circumvent Willa’s rule.

Mini golfing? Totally not a date. Taking a friend’s five-year-old out for a tea party? Nope, that’s not a date, either. Game night? No way can Monopoly be romantic.

Or can it? Kinda depends on how you play. My first rom-com ten years ago had a scene where the couple played Strip Battleship. To this day, I get fan mail from readers thanking me for spicing up their own game nights. I’m still waiting for a kickback from Hasbro.

In the end, I suppose the point of dating is to spend time with the person who floats your boat, and to hopefully get to know that person on a deeper level. What better way to do that than to step outside the candlelight-and-flowers cliché and into a situation that forces you both to think on your feet.  

So, bring on the dog walking dates and the naughty car sex that results in an awkward conversation with police. Let’s hear it for the laser tag dates, the bowling dates, or the ice-skating dates that leave you with frozen toes and silly grins on your faces.

Here’s to finding the fun in dating, one weird outing at a time.